Business Card Display | DIY

My business cards just lay on my desk, and half of them end up getting scattered and lost. I've been wanting to make a holder for them for everrrr, and yesterday I finally did!

What I used:
Altoids tin, some lace, twine, a few strips of washi tape for decorating the  outside and making the mini bunting.
(The washi with the writing "love it - want it" is actually from the SMASH line. I got it on sale for $1 at Target!)

It was super fast and easy to whip up, using only tape! That's the fun with decorating with washi, there's no cutting or gluing, just rip and place. 
To adhere the lace, I covered the inner-top with washi tape- then covered that washi with strips of double sided tape. Lay on the strips of lace (starting at the bottom), press firmly and there you have it.
The bunting is just a piece of twine with strips of washi folded over, then cut into shapes.


It's perfect, because I need my cards out and easy to access daily, since I add them to all of the orders from the shop. It's more of a display than a holder, which will be great at all those indie craft shows I plan on attending (::sigh:: one day).


Altoids tins are GREAT for repurposing projects! Check out my Pinterest board full of fun inspiration. My favorite pin so far is this Travel Painting Kit! Just a NOTE: I'm not the first person to think of using an Altoids tin as a business card holder, I've been seeing them everywhere... but they're not a new idea either... just check out creativeKISMET's holder from over 3 years ago!


I'm totally loving the new kraft business cards and just as happy with the little quotes on the back of each card (except for the missing E at the end of Shakespeare... which I photoshopped in so I wasn't bombarded with emails... ya win some, ya lose some. hah). 


What do you think?
What's your favorite way to repurpose an Altoids tin?

What I Made | Summer 2012 Gift Exchange with Craftaholics Anonymous

Have you heard of Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous?! I'm sure you have, but if not, you should get to know her! Not only is she super crafty and the owner of a to-die-for craft room, but twice a year she holds a handmade gift exchange, one in the summer and the other right before Christmas. This is my 3rd exchange, and I'm never disappointed! The basics are, you sign up, draw a name and make that person a gift. Someone draws your name, and they make you a gift. Easy peasy, right?!

If you missed out on this one, go over and sign up to get a reminder for the Winter exchange; which starts November 1st. Go ahead and check out the photo's of all the fun gifts made this time around over in the Flickr group and at Linda's link party. I'm beyond positive you'll find some great inspiration from other craft lovers! Plus, it's never too early to start thinking about those Christmas presents ;)

My giftee turned out to be Courtney, a SAHM of two, who lives 2,500 miles away in the beautiful state of Washington. After stalking her Elfster likes and Pinterest account, I knew what I wanted to make her. An apron; she had a few pinned and liked, and I figured an Anthropologie Tea & Crumpets apron knock-off would be perfect!

Tutorial for apron by Kelly @ Sewing in No Mans Land

Of course I wanted something to go with the apron, and what better item to accompany an apron than a recipe book?

DIY Journals- A TUTORIAL

I love jotting down random thoughts and ideas. Getting only a few hours of sleep per night plus chasing after a toddler and cranky baby means I forget…. A LOT!

I love notepads… especially pretty notepads. So here we go:

Materials I used:
◦  4- 12x12 patterned cardstock (I got 8 journals out of this, you could also ust 8x11 or any other size depending on what size you want your journals)
◦  48- sheets white paper
◦  4- 8x11 White cardstock
◦  sewing machine and thread
◦  a little elbow-grease $

 

Let’s get started:

◦ Start by cutting out all the paper. (I measured my journals to 8x6. This left me with 8 journal tops and some extra scraps.)
◦ Take your scrap piece and measure it about 2 inces by the height of your journal (mine measured 2x8).
◦ Stack your paper as follows: White carstock, 12 pieces of plain paper, fancy cardstock. Then fold your 2 inch piece in half, this will be the “binding”:

◦ Place the fold against your stack of paper:

◦ Set your stitch length to the longest your machine allows (if you don’t, the paper could get too perforated and tear out more easily)

◦  And sew:

◦  Here is where the “elbow grease” comes in,  I had to manually turn my side handle to sew. The foot pedal just wasn’t getting the job done like I wanted. It takes time, a few wigglies of your arm and maybe a bad word or two. BUT it looks much better manually turning your side handle than using your foot pedal.

And VOILA you’re done!

◦ Add any embellishments you see fit, I hand stamped the back of the journals and the lower right corner of each page:

Wrap with some twine (or in my case yellow yarn), and you’ve got a great, unique gift for anyone who loves to write, doodle or is just plain forgetful!

Hope everyone enjoyed there weekend!

# kristanlynn